Contact-shoe.



P; A. STUHLFEIER.

CONTACT SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1909.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

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"FREDERICK A. STUHLFEIER, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONTACT-SHOE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 191

Application filed May 19, 1909. Serial No. 497,041.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that T, FREDERICK A. STUHL- rninn, of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofEUook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact-Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to contact shoes adapted to be used on electric roads,'the specific function of such devices being to form a connection between the line ccn ductor, or third rail, and the motor circuit.

The paramount object of the improvements which form the subject matter of this application is to character stated that will be uniformly efficient under conditions that would be likely to impair the usefulness of the ordinary contact shoe, or put it entirely out of service. A condition which is especially detrimental to the practical working of the contact shoes generally employed in electric systems of transportation, is an excessively wet rail or one covered with snow or ice, and it is in the latter condition, so frequently occurring as a result of a sleet storm, that my improved contact shoe is particularly applicable, the device being provided with means for effectively removing the icy accumulations, so that the metal surfaces of the shoe and rail will be brought into direct electrical contact.

Other objects of this invention are to furnish means for supplementing the weight of the shoe by the pressure of a suitable device; to provide adjusting means whereby the pressure may be varied'to suit the changing conditions of the coated rail, and to supply a contact element that may be readily applied or removed as desired.

Further objects sought to be accomplished by the improvements disclosed herein are to furnish a contact element that will serve, in addition to its usual function, as an ice plow or cutter, particularly designed to resist wear, to present a large contact surface and to be strong and durable combined with the requisite flexibility.

l accomplish the desired results by means of the appliance illustrated in the accomprovide a device of the" panying drawing which forms a part of this application, the important details of construction being disclosed in the following views Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved contact shoe attached to a car timher, the device being shown in operative position; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view, enlarged, of the shoe with its contact element removed from the hangers, and Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the shoe, also on larged.

Referring to the details of the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates casting forming the body of the shoe, and provided with attaching ears or lugs 6, which rise from the upper face of the shoe and are arranged parallel to each other leaving an interval groove 7 between them. The lugs 6 on the inner side of the shoe are connected by an integral plate or web 8, and the corresponding interval between the outer lugs 6 is filled in by a removable plate 9, supplied with holes 10 to receive bolts which pass through similar holes (not shown) in the web 8. The cars or lugs 6 are furnished with holes for bolts 11, which form pivots for the lower ends of links 12 having their upper ends pivotally connected by bolts 13 to the extremities 1 1 of a yoke 15, of ordinary construction and secured in turn to a beam or timber 16 forming one of the supportsfor a car.

The under face of the shoe 5 is provided with two channels or grooves 17, widely separated at the middle of the block or body, and converging until they meet at each end of the said body. vVithin these channels is lodged a contact element comprising a pair of flat bars 18 bent in the middle to conform to the shape of the channels 17, and held securely therein by screws 19, inserted in threaded holes in the sides of the body 5. These contact members project below the shoe and extend beyond the ends thereof, and are provided on their lower margins with indentations 20 forming teeth 21, the said indentations being oppositely inclined upon each side of the middle portion,

so that the points of the teeth 21, in each half of the member are given a rake toward that end of the bar. These members 18 are preferably made of cast steel, suitably hardened to be effective in their work and resist wear. By referring to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the end of one of the members, where they come together, is left its full width, the other being correspondingly re duced. The object of this arrangement is to have the member present its full width at the point to resist wear and prevent breakage, which would be more likely to occur if both members were thinned down equally.

Interposed between the body of the yoke 15 and the contact shoe, is a compression spring 22, which rests at its lower end in a depression 23 in a collar or cup 2st. The upper end of the spring bears against a cap 25, hemispherical in form, which engages the margin of an aperture 26 in the body of the yoke 15. The under face of said cap is furnished with a collar 27 which projects downward within the coils of the said spring 22 and forms a support therefor. The said cup 2a is bored and threaded to receive a threaded collar 28, formed integral with an oblong block 29, arranged in the upper part of the groove 7, between the web 8 and the plate 9, and having lateral flanges 30 which bear upon the upper margins of said plate and web. The structures thus described, including the compression spring 22, the cap 25, the cup 24 and its bearing block 28, are all firmly clamped together by an adjusting bolt 31 which passes through suitable holes in the parts and has threaded engagement with the body of the shoe, as indicated at The head 33 of said bolt extends above the cap, the aperture 26 allowing sufficient play to the bolt head when the shoe is deviated from its normal position by the inequalities met with in the rail surface to which it is applied.

A general description of the operation of the device will enable any one skilled in the art to which this appliance pertains to readily understand the same. The action of the suspension members, comprising the yoke and connecting links, is precisely that met with in ordinary devices of this type; but as the weight of the shoe alone will not suffice to retain the contacting member in apposition with the rail surface when the latter is coated with sleet, the compression spring is arranged to supplement the action of gravity.

It Will be noted that the hemispherical cap cooperates with the margin of the aperture 26 to form a ball and socket joint which will allow a certain amount of deviation in the relative position of the structures bound together by the center bolt 31, as must result when the shoe contacting members meet with any obstruction or irregularity of the rail surface.

As the hardness of the icy coating will vary with the temperature, the bolt 31 will be adjusted to increase or diminish the pressure of the shoe upon the rail, and the points of the teeth, under sutlicient tension, will plow their way through the hardest ice, thoroughly loosening the congealed coating, the prow-like advancing end of the cutters causing the removed ice and snow to be thrown upon either side, and thus the under faces of the teeth will be brought into proper contact with the rail.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is:-

1. In a contact device, the combination witha supporting yoke, of a shoe flexibly attached to the yoke, contact members projecting below said shoe, teeth on said members, and compression means interposed be tween the yoke and said shoe, said means comprising a spring, a cap engaging said yoke, a bearing block, and an adjusting bolt passing through said cap and bearing block and having threaded engagement with said shoe.

2. In a contact device, the combination with a supporting yoke, and a shoe flexibly attached to the yoke, of contact members 011 said shoe, teeth on the members, a compression spring arranged between the shoe and said yoke, a cap for the spring, said cap having frictional engagement with the yoke, a cup supporting said spring, a bearing block supporting said cup, and a bolt extending through said cap and spring and said bearing block, and having threaded connection with said shoe.

3. In a contact device, a supporting yoke, and a shoe flexibly attached thereto, removable contact members projecting below the shoe, said members converging from the middle point toward either end, teeth on the lower margins of said members, and a compression device fixed to said shoe, and bearing against said yoke.

4. In a device of the character stated, including a shoe, a contact comprising two members arranged longitudinally in chan nels on the under side of said shoe, said members converging from the middle of the shoe toward either end and having their extremities in apposition to form pointed ends, and inclined teeth on the free margins of said members.

5. In a contact shoe, a support, a removable contact element comprising two members separated in the middle and converging to meet at their extremities, teeth on the free margins of the members, a compression spring fixed to said shoe, and a ball and ing a universal joint With said support, and

socket joint between the spring and said means for adjusting said tension device. 10 support. In testimony whereof I afliX my signature 6. In a contact device, a shoe and a, supin the presence of two Witnesses. port therefor, 21, Contact element having its FREDERICK A. STUHLFEIER. sides converging from the middle point W'itnesses: toward either end, teeth on said element, a CHAS. F. BAssn'r'r, tension device fixed to said shoe and form- M. A. Mrnom).

t cpies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

